NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

WASHINGTON, D.C.

ISSUED:

June 9, 1982

Mr. G. H. Lawrence President American Gas Association 1515 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22209

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SAFETY RECOMMENDAT I ON (SI

P-82-19
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Mr. Jerome J. McGrath President Interstate Natural Gas Association of America 1660 L Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036

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A t 1:38 p.m., c.d.t., on September 27, 1981, near Ackerly, Texas, the Chaparral Pipeline, a refined petroleum products 12-inch steel pipeline owned by the Santa Fe Pipeline Company, was damaged by a rathole drill bit; the wall of the pipe was weakened, and i t ruptured under the 1,100 psig operating pressure. The ethane-propane mixture in the pipeline began to escape and was ignited by the drilling rig engine. The ensuing explosion and fire killed three persons; critically burned one person, who died 4 days later; destroyed the rathole drilling rig, a pickup truck, a road grader, a compactor, and 60 acres of cotton; and burned 12,749 barrels (535,458 gallons) of ethane-propane mixture. 1/

This is not an isolated incident; there have been other similar pipeline accidents involving drilling activities: On September 4, 1981, a drilling rig, operated by a crew core-drilling for coal near Belle, West Virginia, punctured a 12-inch gas transmission line. The transmission line was operated by Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, and at t h e time of the accident, was operating at a pressure of 600 psig. The rig operator was injured, t h e rig and a truck were destroyed, and an estimated volume of 3,433,000 cubic feet of gas was lost.

1/ For more detailed information, read Pipeline Accident Report-JThe

Chaparral Pipeline, Explosion and Fire, Ackerly, Texas, September 27, 1981" (NTSB-PAR-82-2). 3498

-2On October 2, 1981, a rathole rig drilling near Andrews, Texas, ruptured a crude oil pathering - line, Sour crude oil escaped from t h e line. No one was injured: On May 27, 1980, near Cartwright, Louisiana, an anhydrc pipeline operated by Santa Fe's Gulf Central Pipeline Company, struck by a bulldozer which was being used to prepare a wellsite, an pipeline ruptured. Over 100 people were evacuated from the area. 2 Over 500 rotary drilling rigs are currently operating in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, where 1 2 percent of the drilling activity in t h e United S takes place. A majority of the drilling is densely underlain by pipelines, many of w the jet well location, stated that he had time because of pipeline conflicts. The pipeline surveillance reports for the Chaparral right-of-way were also indicative of the extent of drilling activity. The preaccident patrol report noted, "MP 171 Drilling rig with slush pits 50 yards south of ROW," and the postaccident patrol report stated: "MP 4 1 / 2 Drill pads on north edge of ROW." The Safety Board is concerned a activities and the use of outside excavati be ascertained i n several ways: on a ti maps used by petroleum industry; from ground; by use of a pipe locator or metal detector; by t h e pipeline comp notification through use of a "one-call intersections with roads, in accordance w The effectiveness of the "one-call'' notification system has been proven; how Statewide, "one-call" system exists in T formulate and implement a "one-calltr s t h e entire petroleum industry.
As a result of this investigation, the National Transporta recommends that t h e American Gas Association and t h e Interstate Na Association of America:

Urge member companies to participate in the current effort to es a "one-call" notification system in the State of Texas. (Class II, P

Action) (P-82-19) BURNETT, Chairman, GOLDMAN, Vice Chairman, and McADAMS and BU Members, concurred in this recommendation.

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"Pipeline Accident Report--Summary 82-1).